My stepdad was chucking out a way battered Highway 61 so I just grabbed it. However you have to keep going and gently press the stylus down about 6 times a side to get through the record jumps.
I don’t think you can do anything about proper deep scratches. Most other problems with vinyl can be solved by assiduous cleaning. With a rare valuable record it can be worth getting it professionally cleaned - the results are amazing. Despite the personal appeal of it being your Dad’s copy this probably won’t be worth it with a copy of Highway 61 Revisted.
In my experience old vinyl that is just generally crackly will improve a lot through just being played a few times (clean your needle after each side).
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Cheers, yeah no reason to spend money so I’ll just do some hardcore cleaning.
Are there visible deep scratches? If so you probably won’t be able to do anything with it.
If not cleaning will certainly help but as I said above, just playing it helps more than anything. I’ve often found that old records which have perhaps not been played for 20 years sound awful at first but start coming to life after two or three plays. Nothing cleans the accumulated gunk out of the grooves better than the needle itself (you do have to clean the needle though).
Make a lo-fi ambient hip hop album.
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Put a 5p on top of the stylus when playing 
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Have you tried shoving it up yer arse?
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Old school
There’s a 1p and some blutack on there already. Bit concerned more weight will start gouging too much
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